Is an East Coast EP getting fired?

[Adam]

Aww that is so nice. I recall shortly after Pratt came aboard Beldner did write one script, then never again.... I recall it being fairly decent.

[JONNYSBRO]

They need to convince Lorriane Broderick to come out of retirement to be a co-head writer or consultant. Broderick left daytime as did Felicia Minei Behr. Lorriane returned to academia as she is a professor at a college teaching writing and Behr teahces production at the same school. Two good woman out of the soap biz and working in academics. Lorriane needs to return to AMC, she knows the show well.

[R Sinclair]

Well, he has history with AMC. I believe he was Tom Casiello before Tom Casiello was Tom Casiello. He started off as a writer's assistant, then script writing, then breakdown writing/Associate head writer and then script editor. I think his strength is in script writing because the dialog he wrote was actually entertaining. Not to sound so stereotypical about "my people" but if you want catty, biting wit, get a gay man to write -- not Wish I Wuzza Drag Queen Amanda L. Beall. (Sorry, just had to get one last dig in before the new year)

Add that along with "production model" to the list of words that make me groan. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...

[brimike]

Beldner definitely was, although Carlivati was (I think) Beldner before Beldner was Beldner. Although I'm not sure whether Jill Lorie Hurst is the original example of someone in the last generation of soap writers (born after '65) starting as an assistant and working their way up. There are a lot of them floating around out there. Hell, Carolyn Culliton was an assistant who worked her way up once too!

And on that, R... we totally agree!

[JackPeyton]

academia?

anyone care to give us in the dark the breakdown?

[brimike]

It's the high-falutin' word for going back to teach at the college/university level.

[marceline]

I've heard that too. OLTL runs more like a day shift and a night shift. Where you come in and tape tons of stuff and you might not see some of your coworkers for weeks or months if they're in a different storyline.

[brimike]

Yeah, and the day-to-day continuity is all over the place. Things like New Year's being taped weeks before Christmas and stuff like that. Everyone has so many conditions to when they'll work (days and times) that it's all out of whack.

I'm actually amazed the show looks as good as it does sometimes, with all of the restrictions on scheduling over there.

[MarkH]

As someone in academia, I cannot think of another better word.

"Going back to teach..." is only a small portion of it. Depending on the appointment, one does (funded) research and publication, one does community service and consultation. Even "teaching" involves more than standing in front of the classroom; it can involve advising and specific mentoring (e.g., working with a graduate student to co-author and publish research).

What is the matter with saying 'academia' to summarize all those activities?

I'm as anti-elitist as the rest, but sometimes there are summary phrases ("production model", "academia") that do not have other equally brief but less high-falutin' equivalents.

Anyway, academia is NOT "high falutin' ". Trust me...if you are at a state or regional school, you may well be dealing with peeling paint, no hot water, crowded classrooms... So, let's disconnect "academia" from its' Langley Wallingford-esque stereotypes.

[brimike]

Mark, you have my apologies. I meant no disrespect to anyone who works in the classroom. God knows, I have nothing but respect for ANYBODY who works in education.

Having said that, my agreement with R Sinclair about the word was more about how certain people use the word "academia"... not with the definition of the word itself. Like people who use the phrase "production model" as a defense mechanism. I have no issue with the phrase "production model"

in and of itself, but rather with how certain people use it these days like it's a mantra. Both are phrases I wish were stopped being used in certain contexts.

But I certainly didn't mean to imply that anyone in academia is an elitist.

I'm truly sorry. It was insensitive of me to type without thinking first, especially to those on this board I really respect who are in academia.

[JONNYSBRO]

I want to give Chuck Pratt a chance because IMO he is much better then B&E but I rather would have seen Lorriane Broderick return. Anna Cascio who is on the OLTL writing staff when she was promoted to AMC headwriter, I liked her before McTavish returned. Pratt is not going anywhere, Frons loves and adores him bigtime. Pratt has a primetime resume and was hard to get. I think if Pratt stays we need a new executive producer. After five years it is time for JHC to be let go from the show.

[LeClerc]

A little aside but I have never understood Kendall & Zach fans calling for JHC to be fired. Hello!? TK will be out of AMC the first chance he gets if JHC goes.

The ABC EP's don't have much impact on what we see. Leslie Charleson and others have confirmed this. Bob Guza said a couple of years back that the headwriters have more freedom under Frons than he has ever seen.

The cast adores Julie, even those who you might expect would not be too pleased with the EP. MEK, for example, has said in the past that Julie was instrumental in helping him get through his divorce and that she had earned his loyalty forever. Just recently he singled her out for helping him get through the really tough contract negotiations he had. So despite the Madden story that, for many, destroyed his character forever, the Dixie/pancake fiasco, and having his pay slashed he still thinks Julie's the greatest. Because he knows she had no control over any of it?

I believe Julie's thoughts about AMC are alot closer to the viewers' thoughts than we think. After all she's buddies with TK, who seems to have a good grasp on what's wrong. I can't see him respecting the woman if she was utterly clueless. It wouldn't surprise me if, at the end of day of taping, they both meet up in a corner somewhere and vent about the material.

Surely she benefitted from working with Wendy Riche and Francesca James for years. Maybe I'm being way too generous but I think the one time we really saw JHC's impact as an EP with actual power was when she was made EP of Port Charles and made Karen Harris headwriter. The show was the best it ever was then IMO (the nurses strike era). It was modern, fresh, diverse and socially relevant. But then ABC took control of the show to experiment with it.

The casting improved dramatically when JHC replaced Buke. The sets improved a little, taking into account budget cuts (this is the only respectable hospital set AMC has ever had IMO). The cast likes her. I don't see any benefit in replacing her with another figurehead. The only change I could see coming from Lisa Hesser is Passions-like casting. Net loss.

[Adam]

Great post! I don't see much point in replacing "Cowudders" at this point..... I don't think it would help or hinder the show in anyway because the EP on ABC is just an EP in name only these days.... Pratt as consulting producer currently probably has more power than she does.

[MarkH]

Oh, I wasn't trying to provoke an apology!

I just think it's good to debunk stereotypes wherever possible.

More importantly, I just don't know of a better set of words to describe these things. Although, if these people are *just* going to teach, then I do suppose "...is now teaching" is a better and more accurate turn of phrase.

As for which show is going to get de Cazotte....It's OLTL...you just know it!

[MarkH]

A new clue from DC...now suggesting it could be ATWT! But they still leave room for OLTL

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